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This Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tortellini is the best any night of the week family dinner. We’re taking tortellini and making it even better, with a rich and creamy roasted red pepper sauce and fresh burrata cheese. Each cute little tortellini has delicious, cozy winter flavors that melt in your mouth. It’s the creamiest bowl of cheese tortellini that’s fancy enough for the weekend, but easy enough to make any night of the week. And most importantly, it’s delicious!

overhead photo of Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tortellini

Currently, I’m in a rotation of four food groups, Asian, Indian, Mexican, and then every once in a while…a random Italian recipe gets thrown into the mix.

I’m not sure what’s going on with my family, but we’ve all been wanting a good amount of Asian and especially Indian-inspired recipes. In fact, as I type this, I have golden rice and curry cooking away on the stove for yet another family dinner. Everyone has really taken a liking to dishes with lots of flavor and spice.

Honestly, my brothers have all been surprising me with what they’ve been requesting. They’ve really come such a long way from their chicken and rice days. I’ve found I’m actually enjoying cooking for everyone these days. It’s a lot of work, but we don’t always get to be together. So I’m taking advantage of this time and testing out as many recipes as I can on these guys. The one thing about brothers is that they’ll always tell it to you like it is…

If they love something, they really LOVE it.

And if something is not that great, I’m going to hear about it. Not in a mean way, but in a, “yeah, that wasn’t my favorite” kind of way.

prep photo of roasted red peppers

Anyway, in an effort to switch things up a bit, I thought I’d make some easy Italian style pasta.

Originally this was just going to be a roasted red pepper pasta, because the other two things I’m currently obsessed with are red peppers and red Fresno peppers. But then I opened the fridge and saw one lingering box of cheese tortellini. I decided that while roasted red pepper pasta sounded good, roasted red pepper cheese tortellini sound even better.

And that’s how I finally came to make the simplest cheesy, red pepper tortellini.

prep photo of roasted red pepper sauce

Here are the quick details.

To give the sauce a bit of extra flavor, I decided to cook up the shallots and garlic in a little olive oil before pureeing them with the roasted red peppers. Pureeing the shallots, garlic, and peppers will leave you with a silky smooth red pepper sauce.

Once you have the sauce made, this comes together in minutes. You’ll want to cook up a little tomato paste, add a splash of vodka, then stir in the red pepper sauce. For the vodka, I pretty much always add a splash to most of my tomato-based pasta sauces. I find that it perfectly highlights all the flavors within the sauce. Of course, if you don’t use or drink vodka, you can easily just use water or broth.

Once the sauce is in the pan, add a little cream and fresh baby spinach. Let that simmer over low heat while you cook the tortellini.

For the tortellini, I used a cheese tortellini from Whole Foods, but use any kind of tortellini flavor you love.

Then toss the pasta with the sauce, add fresh parmesan cheese, and that’s that. Simple. Simple.

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tortellini in skillet

But wait, there is one extra special touch.

Serve this cheesy tortellini up with a ball of fresh burrata cheese. It adds a layer of creaminess to each and every bowl of pasta and it’s delicious with a sprinkling of fresh basil.

Yummm. And super easy. Perfect for just about any night of the week. And for me personally, I’m actually beyond excited to make this again today on Instagram stories. It feels like an exciting Wednesday night dinner.

Cannot wait!

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tortellini | halfbakedharvest.com

Looking for more quick pasta dinner? Here are a few to try:

Spicy Pesto Pasta Alla Vodka

Crispy Roasted Cauliflower with Creamy Pesto Pasta

Roasted Broccoli Pasta Carbonara with Crispy Prosciutto and Whipped Ricotta

Lastly, if you make this Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tortellini, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tortellini

Author: Tieghan Gerard
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 573 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

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Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

  • 1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for cooking the tortellini. Now add the red peppers to a food processor or blender.
    2. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and garlic. Cook until the shallots begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the mix to the food processor or blender with the red peppers. Puree until smooth.
    3. Set the same skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the tomato paste, oregano, and red pepper flakes, cook 4 minutes, until thickened. Stir in the vodka, cook another 2 minutes. Stir in the red pepper sauce, cream, parmesan, spinach, and basil. Season with salt and pepper.
    4. Cook the tortellini according to package directions until al dente. Drain, then toss with the red pepper sauce.
    5. Divide the tortellini between plates and top with burrata and fresh basil. Eat and enjoy immediately.
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This post was originally published on January 27, 2021
3.92 from 806 votes (723 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  2. 5 stars
    This was the perfect meal on a Lenten Friday! My husband doesn’t love tortellini, so I used bow tie pasta and it ended up being perfect. We really liked the “kick” from the red peppers and red pepper flakes- will make again!

    Reply

    1. Hey there,
      Yes, just until the sauce is thicken and the tortellini is ready to be added. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan

      Reply

  5. I made this for my husband and myself. He actually loves this meatless dish! And he’s a steak and potato’s kind of guy. We cooked a double batch, adding in some chicken Italian sausage and froze half of it . This was after making it the original way twice in one week. This is our new favorite pasta sauce.

    Reply

    1. Hey Pam,
      Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am thrilled that it was enjoyed! Happy Valentine’s Day❤️ xTieghan

      Reply

  6. We tried this for the first time tonight, and now we are believers! We couldn’t find burrata at our local market, but substituted for Persian feta. Sooo yummy! Thanks for the new addition to the recipe book.

    Reply

  7. 4 stars
    This was a fun one, albeit a bit messy but if you’re not making a mess in the kitchen are you really having fun? My boyfriend even said, while eating the leftovers the second day “We can add this to our make again pile” which says something because he does not get as excited about food as I do. Thanks for another great one!

    Reply

  9. 5 stars
    Wow. Wow. Wow. Big WIN! I made this for the first time Friday evening and it was just divine in every way. It was even better the next day cold–which pasta never is so that’s saying a lot! The sauce was so silky and rich I think it should be bottled and spread on everything in sight! Would make a great dip for baguettes, pita chips, veggies, potstickers…ok now I’m just getting crazy! To continue, it was like the best craving ever. I personally would not have preferred extra salt when I made it due to the high salt content in those jarred peppers, but if you’re roasting the peppers from scratch it would definitely need it—so that’s something to think about depending on your personal salt needs. 🙂 The only adjustment I might make was for me, the sautéed garlic and shallots were awkward to remove from the pan, so I just wonder if the order could be moved around so that the pepper puree could go straight in the pan afterwards and the garlic could stay. Sometimes the French chefs use a method to do multiple tasks in one pan where they make a well in the center of the skillet and cook the tomato paste and spices while simultaneously pushing the simmering sauce to the outside. Maybe I’m just lazy, but I might try that next time. In any case, brilliant recipe, Tieghan! Will make again and again. It’s a classic <3

    Reply

  10. 5 stars
    I made this tonight.
    I chose to do my own peppers. We did two, and it turned out less red, so three as I saw suggested in the comments work as well. Slice in half, remove stem and seeds, and place on some foil. Bake at 450 until it blackens and sinks in. Ours took 40-50 minutes. When cooled, peel off the skin and you’re done. It was the longest, but easy as it was little work. The rest was able to be done as the pasta cooked. With a jar of peppers would have taken only 10-15 minutes.

    Everything else was done according to recipe (we used the spinach and cheese tortellini, and opted for vodka) and it turned out fabulous. Great way to get vegetables in and spruce it up a bit from marinara sauce.
    Thank you.

    Reply

  11. 5 stars
    Excellent! This was soooo good! I love the flavor of the red peppers! It was a little bit spicy; I would probably cut back to 1/4 – 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, but it’s an individual preference. We didn’t have burrata, which I’m sure would cut the heat! I would also try fresh mozzarella or a little Greek yogurt on top! I used chopped parsley instead of basil since that’s what I had, and it tasted great. I’m sure basil would be delicious! I will definitely be making this again!

    Reply

  12. 5 stars
    This was SO good! Easy to make and nice subtle kick to it. Pretty on the plate. My husband liked it too! He usually doesn’t like a meal without meat. Used cheese ravioli because that’s what I had. I think it worked just fine!

    Reply

  13. 5 stars
    So delicious. I can’t wait to try it with the burrata. Simple to make and I even to the extra step to roast my own peppers! Thank you for another dinner staple in our household.

    Reply

  14. 5 stars
    So easy to make after work. Toddler loved it too!
    “Yum yum” – sums it up right there!
    She was excited about helping mix the sauce together.

    Reply

  15. 5 stars
    We loved this! I added coconut cream instead of milk and a bit more fresh spinach. I used Trader Joe’s cheese tortellini and spinach tortellini. Also added a little starchy water to stretch the sauce. So yummy, comforting and filling! Thank you for this great recipe! Dinner came together quickly!

    Reply